Hoist



1962 B. s. KRATZER 3,048,370

HOIST 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 14, 1959 IN VENTOR: BLA/I'? 5. KRA TZER,

BY WVM .4 Home Aug. 7, 1962 HOIST Filed Aug. 14, 1959 Fig. 2.

a I l v B. S. KRATZER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ZNVENTORI BAA/1? 5. ARATZER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 HOIST INVENTOR: BLA/R 5. KRATZER,

A Hamey.

B. S. KRATZER Aug. 7, 1962 Filed Aug. 14, 1959 3,048,370 HOIST Blair S. Kratzer, Torrance, Califi, assignor to The Garrett Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Aug. 14, 1959, Ser. No. 833,853 10 Claims. (Cl. 254150) This invention relates to a hoist employing a cable wound on a drum and has for its object the provision of anti-fouling means preventing the cable leaving the drum when the load on the cable is released and when the cable is reeled out under conditions of no load.

In the operation of cable and drum hoists, the release of cable tension, and particularly when the cable is being payed out without loading, may be accompanied by a disengagement of the cable from the drum and its subsequent fouling or jamming on itself or between the drum and its cover and the object of this invention is to prevent such fouling by enclosing the wound cable and drum within a helically wound retainer having the same pitch or lead as the cable and/or cable groove and which is secured to and rotates with the drum.

Another object of the invention is an anti-fouling arrangement in accordance with the preceding object in which a cable feeding means is provided in the region where the cable passes through the retainer which positively separates the retainer turns thereat to allow'free passage of the cable.

Another object of the invention is an anti-fouling ar- Other objects and features of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the specification and appended drawings illustrating certain preferred embodiments in which:

FIG. 1 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section of a hoist according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial bottom plan view of the hoist of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section of a modified form of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view partly on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4, but with additional parts broken away to show the cable passage region in section.

In the form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-3' the hoist is provided with supporting frame members 1 and 2 at opposite ends, spaced apart by rods 3, 4, 5, and

6. Within the frame members 1 and 2 are disposed bear ings 7 and 8 within which is rotatably mounted the hoist drum 9 having in its outer surface a helical cable receiving groove 11 within which is wound the cable 12. The end of the cable is held to the drum by a screw 20. About the drum 9 and cable 12 is disposed a helical retainer 13 formed of a flat strip of spring-like material secured. at its opposite ends to the drum as by the retainingscrews 14. The retainer 13 is wound to the same pitch or lead as the cable receiving groove 11 and has the spaces between the individual retainer turns disposed radially out- 11, that is, the interior diameter of the retainer 13 is substantially the same as the diameter of the drum surface with necessary clearance.

The drum 9 is of hollow construction, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, with a transverse supporting wall 16 dinited States atent O viding the interior of the drum into compartments 17 and 18. Within the compartment 17 is mounted an electric motor 19 supported at its left-hand end, as viewed in FIG. '1, upon the removable back wall 21 closing the compartment 17 and at its right hand end upon its shaft 22 journalled'within bearing 23 in the wall 16. The back support for the motor 19 is better shown in FIG. 2 as comprised by the equally spaced studs 24.

The end of the shaft 22 is provided with gear teeth at 25 which mesh with a gear Wheel 26 integrally connected with a pinion 2.7 driving the sun gear 28 of a planetary differential. This differential includes a plurality of spaced planet gears 29 meshing with a stationary gear 31 mounted in an end cap 32 secured to theframe member 2 and also meshing with a gear 33 rigidly connected to the drum 9 to effect rotation thereof. The gear 33 has a different number of teeth than the gear 31, so that the gear train effects a very large reduction in the relative rotations of the motorshaft 22 and drum 9, thus providing for the desired speed of reeling and unreeling of the cable by motor operation and preventing free rotation of the drum when the motor is deenergiZ/ed.

Upon the rod 4 is supported a cable guiding and retainer turn separating wheel 34 as by a sleeve 35 which is freely slidable longitudinally of the rod. The wheel 34 projects into the space between turns of the retainer 13 as can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 and serves to separate the adjacent retainer turns 36 and 37 so that the cable 12 may freely pass therebetween with the wheel 34 serving to hold the cable turn within its groove adjacent to the point of cable emergence as shown more particularly in FIG. 2. At opposite sides of the wheel 34 are mount ed supporting blocks 38 and 39 as by studs 41 at their lower end and by a spacing bracket 42 at their upper ends, this latter connection being provided through retainer studs 43. The bracket 42 also carries arms 44 serving to operate limit switches 45 determining the extreme positions of the cable guiding and feeding wheel 34. The supporting blocks 38 and 39 at their lower ends mount a cable guiding sleeve 46. The block 39 has an integral extending arm 47 which terminates in a bifurcated portion embracing the rod 5 to preventtilting of the blocks 38 and 39 about the rod 4.

Upon the rods 3 and 5 are rotatably and slidably mounted spools 48 having integral flanges 49 extending into the spaces between adjacent turns of the retainer 13 so as to embrace those turns which are being separated by the cable feeding wheel 34. The thickness of the flanges 49 is substantially the same as the normal spacing between the retainer turns, and the spacing between the flanges is substantially the same as the width of the individual retainer turn so that the spools 48 serve to posii of the cable through the retainer.

accordance with the pitch of the turns of the retainer 13,

the wheel 34 and spools 48 being always associated with the retainer turns which are being separated to thus pro vide for cable passage over the entire length of the drum.

With the arrangement shown, the helical retainer straps hold the cable within the grooves in the surface of the drum as shown in the left hand portion of FIG. 1 and the spreading apart of the retainer turns to permit free cable passage is kept to a minimum peripheral distance consistent with proper axial spacing of the retainer turns at the region of cable passage so that the tendency of the cable to rise out of its groove with attendant fouling is overcome.

Where desired, the hoist may be provided with an outer protective casing 51 provided with an elongated slot 52 through which the cable passes. For manual transport the hoist is also provided with a handle 53 and carrying strap 54.

In the modification of FIGS. 4 and 5, the hoist therein illustrated is provided with end supports 61 and 62 within which is journalled a shaft 63 carrying a cable drum 64 having a helical groove 65 in its outer surface for the reception of the hoist cable. A helical retaining strap 66, similar to that shown at 13 in the preferred embodiment, is provided with the same pitch as the groove 65, has the spaces between the turns radially outwardly of the bottom of the groove 65, and has its interior surface supported by the portion 67 of the drum surface between the turns of groove 65.

Between the end plates 61 and 62 is mounted a rod 68 as by end brackets 69 and 71 and upon the rod 68 is mounted a cable feeding wheel 72 between brackets 73 and 74 clamped about a restraining member 75 having oppositely extending arms 76 and 77. The wheel 72 and brackets 73 and 74 are carried by a sleeve 78 slidably mounted on the rod 68 so as to be movable rectilinearly thereof and of the drum 64. The wheel 72 projects into the space between two adjacent turns of the retainer 66 and serves to spread them apart to permit free passage of the cable 78 through the retainer. The arm 76 of the restraining member 75 carries a U-shaped restraining bracket 81 which grips the remote edges of the pair of retainer turns which are being separated by the wheel 72 and positively holds them to their normal spacing at the region of bracket engagement. The arm 77 terminates in a pressure applying portion 82 which bears against the separated retainer turns and by pressing them inwardly also serves to bring the turns back into their normally spaced positions adjacent the point of pressure application. For this purpose, the restraining member 75 is formed of relatively strong and resilient material with the arm 77 not only exerting the turn position restoring force, but also serving to bias the arm 76 and bracket 81 clockwise as viewed in FIG. 5, with the bracket engaging the turns of the retainer. The cable 79 passes through an opening 80 in the arm 77 and its end is received within a hole in the drum 64 and retained therein by a set screw 83. The ends of the retaining strap 66 are mounted to retainer plates 84 and 85 as by studs 86 and 89, respectively. The retainer plate 84 is rigidly mounted at one end of the drum as by the cable retaining set screw 83 and retainer plate 85 is adjustably mounted to properly tension the retainer strap 66 to its desired diameter by means of a slot 87 and stud 88.

The operation of the anti-fouling arrangement of the modification of FIGS. 4 and has the wheel 72 separating adjacent turns of the helical retainer strap only at the region of cable passage through the retainer and has the separated turns held or restrained to their normal spacing at points outside the region of cable passage by the bracket 81 and the pressure applying portion 82.

While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been specifically disclosed, it is understood that the invention is not limited thereto, as many variations will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the invention is to be given its broadest possible interpretation consistent with the prior art.

What is claimed is:

1. In a hoist, a cable drum adapted to have a cable wound thereon, a cable retainer wound about said drum, said retainer normally having a pitch substantially the same as the pitch of the cable on the drum, the space between adjacent turns of said retainer being disposed substantially radially outwardly of the cable turns, means for securing the opposite ends of said retainer on said drum, cable feeding means including a portion adapted to project into the space between two adjacent turns of said retainer to spread said adjacent turns to permit free passage of the cable therebetween, shaft means disposed parallel to the axis of said drum 'for slidingly supporting said cable feeding means, restraining means disposed to engage and hold said two adjacent turns of said retainer at said normal pitch at peripherally spaced points located on opposite sides of said cable feeding means, and means for supporting said restraining means for movement parallel to the axis of said drum.

2. In a hoist, a cable drum adapted to have a cable wound thereon, acable retainer wound about said drum, said retainer normally having a pitch substantially the same as the pitch of the cable on the drum, the space between adjacent turns of said retainer being disposed substantially radially outwardly of the cable turns, means for securing the opposite ends of said retaineron said drum, cable feeding means including a cable guiding wheel adapted to project into the space between two adjacent turns of said retainer to spread said adjacent turns to permit free passage of the cable therebetween, shaft means for supporting said cable feeding means for move ment parallel to the axis of the drum, restraining means disposed to engage and hold said two adjacent turns of said retainer at said normal pitch at peripherally spaced points located on opposite sides of said cable feeding means, and means for supporting said restraining means for movement parallel to the axis of said drum.

3. In a hoist, a cable drum adapted to have a cable wound thereon, a cable retainer wound about said drum, said retainer normally having a pitch substantially the same as the pitch of the cable on the drum, the space between adjacent turns of said retainer being disposed substantially radially outwardly of the cable turns, means for securing the opposite ends of said retainer on said drum, cable feeding means including a cable guiding wheel adapted to project into the space between two adjacent turns of said retainer to spread said adjacent turns to permit free passage of the cable therebetween, shaft means disposed parallel to the axis of said drum for rotatably supporting said wheel and slidingly supporting said cable feeding means, and restraining means disposed to engage and hold said two adjacent turns of said 1 retainer at said normal pitch at peripherally spaced points located on opposite sides of said cable feeding means, said restraining means having a common mounting with said cable feeding wheel so as to be movable therewith parallel to the axis of the drum.

4. In a hoist, a cable drum adapted to have a cable wound thereon, a cable retainer wound about said drum, said retainer normally having a pitch substantially the same as the pitch of the cable on the drum, the space between adjacent turns of said retainer being disposed substantially radially outwardly of the cable turns, means for securing the opposite ends of said retainer on said drum, cable feeding means including a cable guiding wheel adapted to project into the space between two adjacent turns of said retainer to spread said adjacent turns to permit -free passage of the cable therebetween, shaft means disposed parallel to the axis of said drum forrotatably supporting said wheel and slidingly supporting said cable feeding means, roller means disposed at peripherally spaced points located adjacent said drum outside the region of the cable passage, said roller means having flanges arranged to engage the remote edges of said two adjacent turns of said retainer to hold said adjacent turns at their normal pitch, and means supporting said roller means for rotation and for movement parallel to the axis of said drum.

5. In a hoist, a cable drum adapted to have a cable wound thereon, a cable retainer wound about said drum, said retainer normally having a pitch substantially the same as the pitch of the cable on the drum, the space between adjacent turns of said retaining being disposed 4 on, ca

substantially radially outwardly of the cable turns, means 7 for securing the opposite ends of said retainer on said drum, cable feeding means including a cable guiding wheel adapted to project into the space between two adjacent turns of said retainer to spread said adjacent turns to permit free passage of the cable therebetween, shaft means disposed parallel to the axis of said drum for rotatably supporting said wheel and slidingly supporting said cable feeding means, a first roller means disposed adjacent said drum on one side of said cable feeding means, a second roller means disposed adjacent said drum on the opposite side of said cable feeding means, said first and second roller means having flanges arranged to engage the remote edges of said two adjacent turns of said retainer to hold said adjacent turns at their normal pitch, and means for supporting said first and second roller means for rotation and for movement parallel to the axis of said drum.

6. In a hoist, a cable drum having a winding groove in its surface, a cable Wound in the groove of said surface, a cable retainer wound about said drum, said retainer normally having a pitch substantially the same as the pitch of the groove in the surface of the drum, the space between adjacent turns of said retainer being disposed substantially radially outwardly of the groove, means for securing the opposite ends of said retainer on said drum, cable feeding means including a portion adapted to projeot into the space between two adjacent turns of said retainer to spread said adjacent turns to permit free passage of the cable therebetween, shaft means disposed parallel to the surface of said drum for slidingly supporting said cable feeding means, restraining means disposed to engage and hold said two adjacent turns of said retainer at said normal pitch at peripherally spaced points located on opposite sides of said cable feeding means, and means for supporting said restraining means for movement parallel to the surface of said drum.

7. In a hoist, a supporting structure, a cable drum rotatably mounted in said structure, said drum having a winding groove in its surface, a cable wound in the groove of said surface, a cable retainer wound about said drum, said retainer being in the form of a strap with the major side disposed parallel to the surface of the drum and normally having a pitch substantially the same as the pitch of the groove in the surface of the drum, the space between adjacent turns of said retainer being disposed substantially radially outwardly of said groove, the interior diameter of said retainer being such that the retainer strap is substantially supported by the drum surface between the groove turns, means for securing the opposite ends of said retainer strap on said drum, cable feeding means including a portion adapted to project into the space between two adjacent turns of said retainer strap to spread said adjacent turns to permit free passage of the cable therebetween, shaft means mounted on said structure and disposed parallel to the surface of said drum for slidingly supporting said cable feeding means, restraining means disposed to engage and hold said two adjacent turns of said retainer at said normal pitch at peripherally spaced points located on opposite sides of said cable feeding means, and means disposed on said structure for supporting said restraining means for movement parallel to the surface of said drum.

8. In a hoist, a supporting structure, a cable drum rotatably mounted in said structure, said drum having a winding groove in its surface, a cable wound in the groove of said surface, a cable retainer wound about said drum, said retainer being in the form of a strap with the major side disposed parallel to the surface of the drum and normally having a pitch substantially the same as the pitch of the groove in the surface of the drum, the space between adjacent turns of said retainer being disposed sub-.

stantially radially outwardly of said groove, the interior diameter of said retainer being such that the retainer strap is substantially supported by the drum surface between the groove turns, means for securing the opposite ends of said retainer strap on said drum, cable feeding means including a portion adapted to project into the space betwen two adjacent turns of said retainer strap to spread said adjacent turns to permit free passage of the cable therebetween, shaft means mounted on said structure and disposed parallel to the surface of said drum for slidingly supporting said cable feeding means, and restraining means disposed to engage and hold said two adjacent turns of said retainer at said normal pitch at peripherally spaced points located on opposite sides of said cable feeding means, said restraining means having a common mounting with-said cable feeding means so as to be movable therewith parallel to the surface of said drum.

9. In a hoist, a supporting structure, a cable drum 'rotatably mounted in said structure, said drum having a winding groove in its surface, a cable wound in the groove of said surface, a cable retainer wound about said drum, said retainer being in the form of a strap with the major side disposed parallel to the surface of the drum and normally having a pitch substantially the same as the pitch of the groove in the surface of the drum, the space between adjacent turns of said retainer being disposed substantially radially outwardly of said groove, the interior diameter of said retainer being such that the retainer strap is substantially supported by the drum surface between the groove turns, means for securing the opposite ends of said retainer strap on said drum, cable feeding means including a cable guiding wheel adapted to project into the space between two adjacent turns of said retainer strap to spread said adjacent turns to permit free passage of the cable therebetween, shaft means mounted on said structure and disposed parallel to the surface of said drum for rotatably supporting said wheel and slidingly supporting said cable feeding means, roller means disposed at peripherally spaced points located adjacent said drum outside the region of the cable passage and having flanges arranged to engage and hold said two adjacent turns of said retainer strap at their normal pitch, and means disposed on said structure for supporting said roller means for rotation and for movement parallel to the surface of said drum.

10. In a hoist, a supporting structure, a cable drum rotatably mounted in said structure, said drum having a winding groove in its surface, a cable wound in the groove of said surface, a cable retainer wound about said drum, said retainer being in the form of a strap With-the major side disposed parallel to the surface of the drum and normally having a pitch substantially the same as the pitch of the groovein the surface of the drum, the space between adjacent turns of said retainer being disposed substantially radially outwardly of said groove, the interior diameter of said retainer being such that the retainer strap is substantially supported by the drum surface between the groove turns, means for securing the opposite ends of said retainer strap on said drum, cable feeding means including a cable guiding wheel adapted to project into the space between two adjacent turns of said retainer trap to spread said adjacent turns to permit free passage of the cable therebetween, shaft means mounted on said structure and disposed parallel to the surface of said drum for rotatably supporting said wheel and slidingly supporting said cable feeding means, a first roller means disposed adjacent said drum on one side of said cable feeding means, a second roller'means disposed adjacent said drum on the opposite side of said cable feeding means, said first and second roller means having flanges arranged to engage the remote edges of said two adjacent turns of said retainer strap to hold said adjacent turns at their normal pitch, and means disposed on said structure for supporting said first and second roller means for rotation and for movement parallel to the surface of said drum.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,782,358 Lang Nov. 18, 1930 2,255,574 Waseige Sept. 9, 1941 5 2,348,987 Lock May 16, 194 r 

